News on Potatoes for processing from Asia

Farmers' rights activists on Tuesday planted FL-2027 seed potatoes on a plot of farmland in Ahmedabad, Gujarat to protest food and beverages major PepsiCo's reassertion of rights over the variety.

According to the Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA), Benguet potato farmers reported a double yield with the use of seed potatoes from Canada.

After discussions with the government, the Pepsico India has agreed to withdraw the cases against the potato farmers. In April Pepsico sued four farmers for cultivating a potato variety - FC5 - grown exclusively for its popular Lay's potato chips.

Leading farmers unions and rights advocacy groups have demanded that the PepsiCo immediately withdraw all legal suits it has slapped on many potato farmers in different districts of Gujarat.

PepsiCo has sued three potato farmers in Gujarat complaining that they have been illegally growing and selling a variety of potato exclusively registered to Pepsico for the use of producing its Lays potato chips.

Poor supply of potato in Madhya Pradesh in spot market and higher prices have escalated cost of production of chips manufacturers by over 10 per cent. The rise is likely to make packaged chips more expensive.

Snacks and beverages manufacturer PepsiCo plans to invest $5 million by 2020 to expand its sustainable farming programme in India.

A new order issued in the Philip[pines allows for the import of more potatoes at a low rate (3%), exclusively for use for the production of potato chips

The government in the Indian state Odisha has started producing potato variety ‘Chipsona’ on experimental basis in Koraput in anticipation of plans by Pepsico to establish a potato chips manufacturing unit in the region

According to a GAIN-report prepared by the USDA staff in Beijing, China’s fresh potato production in marketing year 2017-2018 is forecast at 97 million metric tons, a five percent increase from the estimated 92 million metric tons in the previous year.

Potatoes USA has distributed chip-stock potatoes to four local potato chip manufacturers in Myanmar to conduct product trials.

In India, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) is starting the production of frozen French Fries in October of this year. They have set up shop in North Gujarat, close to McCain Foods India and Hyfun Frozen Foods

Potato growers in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan's second-largest potato-producing region hope to boost their name recognition as a potato producer with a new variety, "Nagasaki Kogane" (Nagasaki Gold), which it filed for registration in 2015.

Gujarat's Banaskantha district has mashed Agra (Uttar Pradesh) in potato production, taking the No. 1 rank in India.

Potato farming in the Indian state Gujarat has reached an all-time high with over 18 per cent more planting compared to last year.

On August 28, the Indian manufacturer of French Fries and Potato Specialties HyFun Foods held its grand formal inauguration of its new production plant.

The West-Bengal government (India) has recently abandoned its proposed potato processing unit in Hooghly's Sheoraphuli after no private company showed interest in the project.

American Lorain Corporation (NYSE MKT: ALN) an international processed snack foods, convenience foods, and frozen foods company based in Shandong Province, China, today announces that its French fries sales have contributed over 20 million RMB (about 3.1 million USD, 2.9 million EUR) to the revenues so far in 2015.